Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
Since 2010, absolute poverty has fallen by 700,000. That is a very significant decline and 650,000 fewer children live in workless households than did in 2010. That is the key way out of poverty. Getting people into work is the key way out of poverty. We have a record number of vacancies. Employment has got back to pre-pandemic levels and an extra £500 million has been made available for people who, over this winter, may be in need because of the continuing consequences of the pandemic, so the Government are doing absolutely the right things. But the key way out of poverty is economic growth and economic success. It is not any other route.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
Building on the question earlier from the hon. Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden), I have been contacted by many constituents in North Ayrshire and Arran who have just reached state pension age, but have faced considerable delays in receiving their state pension payments. There are 2.1 million pensioners in poverty across the UK, so, for them, the state pension is the most important source of income and these delays to payments are a particular cruelty to the WASPI women who have already had their state pension age increased. I wrote to the DWP Secretary of State about this on 8 August and not yet received a response. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out what investigations he will undertake into these delays? Will he use his good offices to ensure that state pension payments are made in a timeous manner?
Mr Rees-Mogg
Since I have been doing this job over the past couple of years or so, I have thought that one of the most useful parts of business questions is that, if problems are arising and affecting a number of constituents, this is an opportunity to raise them. On some occasions, a number of Members have raised the same point, which tends to indicate that an issue is of a degree of seriousness and will need Government attention. This has now come up twice. I do not know whether it is affecting other hon. and right hon. Members—[Interruption.] I see a certain amount of nodding. I will therefore take this up as a matter of extreme urgency after this session with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
Despite a so-called partnership of equals, Scotland is subjected to a Tory Elections Bill that is an assault on the democratic process, constant attempts to shift the goalposts on an independence referendum, a UK Government seeking to legislate on devolved areas and the imposition of a regressive tax hitting low-paid workers. Will the Leader of the House make a statement explaining whether he thinks those measures are strengthening or weakening the Union?
Mr Rees-Mogg
I am glad to say that the Union seems to get stronger and stronger. We have seen how important it has been during the course of the pandemic, with the enormous sums of money that have come from the UK taxpayer to help every corner of the United Kingdom, with £407 billion so far, of which I think £15 billion has gone to Scotland.
On the national insurance increase, people in Scotland will get more money than they pay and they will get more money for healthcare. Is it now the policy of the SNP, along with the policy of the Labour party, that it does not want extra funding for healthcare—that it wants longer waits for hips, knees and other operations, and fewer treatments to take place? The Union is getting stronger because people are beginning to see the failures of the nationalist Government in Scotland, as Lady Mona Lott herself just goes on and on about a second referendum, rather than dealing with the problems that Scotland faces and the backlog of issues that have risen from the pandemic.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
This week is actually a very interesting one for English saints’ days, because the 19th is that of St Alfege, who was murdered by the Danes for refusing to pay extra tax—a saint I have always particularly admired—and the 21st is that of St Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had a great row with William Rufus over the powers of the Church against the state. Then of course there is St George, who famously slew the dragon and did other great and noble things, and became our patron saint really in the reign of Edward III. He is the patron of the Order of the Garter as well, and a chivalrous saint, or very much thought to be. We should celebrate and discuss the great history of our nation and the interesting agglomeration of saints who pray for us on a daily basis, praying for the success not just of England but of the whole of the United Kingdom. St Andrew, St David and St Patrick—all the great saints—should be celebrated and commemorated.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
Today is Earth Day, so it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the environmental damage caused to marine habitats by the clearing of unexploded bombs and mines at sea, which is highly disruptive to marine mammals which rely on their auditory systems for navigation and communication. Indeed, such damage threatens their very survival. Will the Leader of the House make a statement as to when the Government will progress regulations to favour the deflagration technique, which is several hundred times quieter than the current method of clearing unexploded bombs and mines at sea?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The hon. Lady is obviously right to be concerned for marine mammals such as dolphins, whales and porpoises, who, when seen, give such pleasure to people, and are an important part of the marine environment. I know that there are campaigns in relation to how munitions that have been dumped at sea are best destroyed, and I will happily pass on her representations.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My hon. Friend, along with our hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Virginia Crosbie), points out the dangers of incompetent socialist Governments getting the wrong end of every stick that comes within their sight. I understand that the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, our hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow), has had a meeting with my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Fay Jones) to discuss river pollution. The Government take this responsibility very seriously.
Water companies have a legal duty to avoid pollution and must act quickly to reduce any damage that happens as a result of their activities. The regulations are clear and are enforced robustly. Over the past six years, the Environment Agency has brought 48 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of £35 million. The Environment Bill will also place a statutory requirement on water companies to produce drainage and sewerage management plans to help deliver more of the actions needed to address the risks that sewage assets may pose to the environment. Action is being taken, but my hon. Friend is right to stand up for farmers and stop sewage.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
My constituent Tony McDowall travelled to Istanbul in September last year. In the early hours of the next morning, he called his mum in a state of some distress, telling her that he had been awoken from his sleep by two men attempting to break into his hotel room. A few hours later, Mrs McDowall was contacted by local police at her home in Arran to be told that her son was dead.
Mrs McDowall was the last person to speak to her son, and despite being advised by the British consulate that her son’s death is being investigated by the Turkish authorities, no one on the investigation team has made contact with her or updated her on the status of progress of the investigation into her son’s death. I urge the Leader of the House to please use his good offices to ensure that a representative from the UK Foreign Office contacts Mrs McDowall to assist her in finding out what happened to her 28-year-old son.
Mr Rees-Mogg
This is a very sad case, and one’s sympathies go to Mrs McDowall, who must feel very bereft, both at the death of her son and at the lack of information. I assure the hon. Lady that I will take this up with the Foreign Office immediately after this questions session has finished.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My hon. Friend is right to praise the value of parks and open spaces. Who was it who called the parks—our great royal parks—the “lungs of London”? Was it Pitt the Elder? It may have been; I cannot remember. It is a pity that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is not here, because he would be bound to know.
We have seen during the covid-19 pandemic how important access to parks and green spaces is to local communities. Green spaces help health, wellbeing, integration and social engagement. As I understand it, Stanley Park is itself listed and is one of England’s parks of special historic interest, owing to its art deco design. It is important that local authorities build new developments with the consent of local residents and that they build beautifully. That should be a real theme. It always strikes me that, under current planning rules, it is most unlikely that the Royal Crescent at Bath would be built. We have an obsession with building things that are not beautiful. We want to build things that are beautiful, and then, where they are located will become a matter of pride rather than of disappointment. However, as I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton South (Matt Vickers), we cannot forget that new housing must be built.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP) [V]
Betting firm Football Index is now in administration, with its licence suspended by the Gambling Commission amid reports that the firm operated like a pyramid scheme and had been admonished by the Advertising Standards Authority in 2019 for creating the impression that the product was a lucrative investment opportunity. Clearly, concerns over how Football Index was raising money have been ongoing, and this has raised serious questions about how fit for purpose the Gambling Commission is, having licensed the platform. Will the Leader of the House make a statement on what can be learned from this episode and what more can be done to ensure that regulation of the betting industry is fit for purpose to protect consumers who collectively have £98 million trapped in Football Index, and will he support a public inquiry into this scandal?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The hon. Lady raises a matter of concern across the House, as is gambling more generally and the right approach to regulating gambling. I suggest that she raise this with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which would be able to look into it, and I, in turn, will raise it with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and get her a fuller answer because it is a matter of concern across the House.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My hon. Friend raises an excellent point. He tempts me greatly, because I hope when he sees Highways England tomorrow that he will ask it on my behalf why it keeps on closing the M3 and the M4 at weekends, both of which are essential routes to the part of the world in which I live. It is extraordinarily vexing, so if he can do me a favour, I hope he will raise that with it. As always, he is the champion for Cleethorpes and for his constituency, and he is right to be concerned about the quality of our roads and ensuring that they are in the best possible condition. Her Majesty’s Government are providing £4 billion of taxpayers’ money for major structural renewals on Highways England’s network up to 2025, so it can meet the road condition targets it has been set. It is of course important that it consults with the public and Parliament in developing a programme for these works, and I will certainly pass on his comments to the Secretary of State for Transport. I encourage him to get good answers from Highways England.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP) [V]
The gender pension gap stands at around 40.3%, more than twice the gender pay gap of 17.8%, representing a differential in pension income of around £7,500 a year. The pension triple lock does not apply to pension credit, discriminating against the oldest and poorest pensioners, who are disproportionately women, and those earning less than £10,000 a year—again, mostly women—are not automatically enrolled into a pension and will not therefore benefit from their employers’ contributions. Will the Leader of the House make a statement as to how he thinks his Government can address the specific challenges of the disproportionate poverty of older women, which was worsened by the acceleration of state pension age equalisation?
Mr Rees-Mogg
State pension age equalisation came about, ultimately, because of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, which said it was discriminatory to have different pension ages. Therefore, the decision was taken 30 years ago, or thereabouts, when my noble Friend Lord Lilley was the relevant Secretary of State, to even the ages, and that has been a fair and sensible policy. The hon. Lady mentions the triple lock. That, again, has been extraordinarily important in raising the level of pensions for both men and women across the country, so it is something that the Government are tackling and we are ensuring that pensioners are protected. If the hon. Lady wants a debate, I would suggest that this is a topic for the Budget debates.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP) [V]
On World Cancer Day, I am sure the Leader of the House will be aware that terminally ill people can only access fast-track benefits if they can prove that they have six months or less to live. In Scotland, a change in the law on benefits for terminally ill people is due to take place later this year, and in early 2022 will provide fast-track access to disability benefits. Will the Leader of the House make a statement, setting out his views as to whether he believes that this change should also apply to universal credit to avoid a two-tier system for those who struggle with a terminal illness, so that they can access the support they need from a more compassionate welfare system?
Mr Rees-Mogg
It is always difficult dealing with benefits at the end of life because it is not a precise science as to when that will be. It is an estimate of the end of life, but it is important that all benefits should be handled sensitively with people who are coming to the end of their life. If a devolved authority has a better way of doing things, I am sure that the Government will study that. On the other hand, devolved authorities should be careful about changing things that lead to differences that may be confusing for people at the end of their life.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
I echo my hon. Friend’s comments on the critical role played by local directors of public health and their teams, working tirelessly to help to protect the health of local people. As we establish the new National Institute for Health Protection, with a focus on our capacity and capability to respond to health threats, we will pay close attention to developing the best possible relationship between our expanded national health protection capability and local directors of public health. My hon. Friend has placed his praise on the record, which is a good, parliamentary way to thank people.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
With household debt linked to covid soaring by 66%, the chief executive of the debt charity StepChange has urged a long-term vision for those financially affected by the pandemic to avoid the real danger of lasting economic and social damage, which will deepen inequality and act as a drag on economic recovery. Will the Leader of the House make a statement setting out the Government’s long-term vision to deal with this serious societal challenge, with 1.2 million people living with severe debt and 3 million people at risk of falling into arrears with their bills?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The hon. Lady raises an important point. One thing on which the Government and individual Members of Parliament can help is pointing people in the direction of assistance when they have a debt problem. Many organisations up and down the country help people to reschedule their debts so that they can get them under control and work out how to get their family finances back in order. Citizens advice bureaux are good at helping with that and with pointing people in the right direction. There is certainly a good local organisation in my constituency that is able to assist people in these difficult circumstances, and that is a role we all have as Members of Parliament.
Business of the House
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My hon. Friend raises an important point about the use of borrowing by councils, particularly if they are not providing the services they are meant to provide. I hope that the good people of Warrington have been able to enjoy other leisure facilities in the meantime, possibly even private sector ones. The Government are clear: councils should not borrow more than they need in advance of their own requirements, purely to profit from the investment of the extra sums borrowed. Councils are not speculators and they should not behave as if they are.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP) [V]
A memo that was recently leaked to the Bloomberg news agency revealed the view of senior Tories that the majority of people in Scotland support independence. Will the Leader of the House make a statement to set out why he believes that support for Scottish independence is at record levels? Does he agree with the view in the memo that continuing to dismiss calls for an independence referendum in Scotland is counterproductive?
Mr Rees-Mogg
Six years ago, in the year of our Lord 2014, a referendum was held in Scotland to decide on whether Scotland wished to remain part of the United Kingdom. The people of Scotland, in their wisdom, voted to remain in the United Kingdom and that is why they are benefiting from £7.2 billion of UK taxpayers’ money to help them through the coronavirus crisis. The benefits of the United Kingdom are enormous. But I would say this, as an Englishman. I think it is absolutely wonderful that we are a single country to which Scotland has contributed enormously over the centuries. We are all kith and kin. We should be so pleased that we are a single country and grateful for the contribution of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
House Business during the Pandemic
Patricia Gibson Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My hon. Friend is absolutely right on that, which is one reason why I argue that we should try to lead by example. People who have been at the frontline have been working exceptionally hard and have been doing so in a way that is brave and deserves our commendation.
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)
Does the Leader of the House not agree that not allowing MPs who are shielding to participate fully in this House is disenfranchising them and it is cruel and unnecessary? For shielding MPs, in particular, this needs to be rethought, reviewed and fixed.
Mr Rees-Mogg
I think the hon. Lady is not looking fully at what shielded MPs will be able to do. They will be able to have a proxy and to participate in the interrogative parts of Parliament’s activities. We have to get the balance right between what can be done by shielding MPs and what allows Parliament to carry on doing its job. I fear that that is the key point, and I hope Members will understand that although their contributions have reflected their experiences and those of their party, it is our responsibility to consider Parliament’s work as a whole—not just the duties of individual MPs, but the duties of our Parliament to the British people.
Mr Rees-Mogg
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that point. The Chief Whip is not in his normal seat, so I will whisper it very quietly in the hope that he does not hear, but I would still be concerned about the Whips exercising a very large number of votes. Even as a member of the Government, to go to the point of the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland about the Leader of the House having a broader responsibility, I do not think that would be ideal. I think it is preferable that the awarder of the proxy can decide the Member who will bear the proxy. I think that is a better system, but I think Members in the generality ought to come here physically to vote because that is bringing Parliament to one place.
I was just talking about the hon. Member for Edinburgh East, who said that
“the final link in the digital chain is a domestic broadband connection that often fails, leaving Members unable to participate fully or at all.”—[Official Report, 12 May 2020; Vol. 676, c. 216.]
We certainly saw that with the hybrid proceedings. MPs are not able to conduct all aspects of their job from home, because it misses the responsibility we have as lawmakers.
Patricia Gibson
I thank the Leader of the House for once again giving way. He is very generous with his time. I have been a bit reluctant to intervene on him, because BBC Parliament continues to misgender me by calling me “Peter Gibson” and by referring to me as a Conservative, which will not go down well with many of my constituents. On the point about voting—regardless of covid, although it is very important in this debate—does he not agree that taking 30-odd minutes in ordinary times to carry out a vote is not a good use of this Parliament’s time? It would be much better if we could vote electronically and take two or three minutes, as happens in the Scottish Parliament, and therefore get on with our work more efficiently.
Mr Rees-Mogg
I believe it is fair to say that the Scottish Parliament has not got remote voting. The voting still has to be done physically, within the Scottish Parliament, and that is an important point to bear in mind. Voting is still done within the Parliament. If people look in the Division Lobbies, they may get an indication of the way Mr Speaker’s mind is working in making the Division system more effective. That, of course, is part of the process—that things improve and evolve as we work our way through this crisis.
Let me now turn to why scrutiny actually matters from the point of view of the Government, as well as of Back Benchers. By the time a Bill reaches the Floor of the House, many hundreds, sometimes thousands of hours have been dedicated to working up its policy details and drafting its clauses and schedules, yet it is only when parliamentarians are able to consider those clauses and schedules that our process of lawmaking begins in earnest. The Minister responsible for the Bill naturally wants to know what all Members think the legislation will mean for their constituents. Those views can be heard on Second Reading, upstairs in Committee and on Report.
Under the hybrid proceedings, we were only sitting for three days a week, which would never be enough for us to make progress on our legislative priorities. On the days when we were able to debate a Bill, the limited time for debate—cut by two thirds compared with a normal timetable—would have been deeply frustrating. In the fairly typical week commencing 2 March, there were 648 minutes of debate in the Chamber and Committees on primary legislation, compared with just 216 minutes in the hybrid week commencing 11 May. On secondary legislation, there was an additional 165 minutes of debate.
During my years sat in my old spot over there—I think it is a spot that still has a tick on it, so it is reserved—I became accustomed to Back-Bench MPs complaining about the limitations on the time for debate, so it comes as something of a surprise to me, now that I am standing here as Leader of the House, that it falls to me to make the case for more scrutiny against many of those same voices who actually want less time for scrutiny. For a Minister, these exchanges are not an adjunct to our democracy—they are our democracy in action. On any given day in Parliament, there is not only one issue considered; the issues are legion.